State trooper pulled me over the other day. Guess why!

[StereoDreamer]

Problem # 7 - you still have the arrest on your record, even if the charges are dropped. So next time you apply for a job that requires a background check, the arrest for 'illegal substance or equipment' will show up and NO explanation attached on why it was dropped.

This is why you sue them for false arrest. Because MOST jurisdictions would rather settle (for a total expungement of your record) than have the TRUTH come out in court, and become a matter of case law, which would prohibit them from doing it again in the future.

Contact a lawyer if you are ever arrested under such false charges--any decent lawyer can get your record totally expunged if the charges were found to be totally without grounds. It might cost a Grand or so, bit it's well worth the expense, to have a totally clean record.

 

[StereoDreamer]

Speaking specific jurisdictions, did the OP ever say where, exactly, this event occurred? I'm curious as to which LEA trains it's officers to treat law-abiding citizens so rudely.

And also, I'm curious as to what the age and gender of the OP is. I'm seeing a disturbing trend emerging among reports of these sorts of stops, and I'm curious as to whether the OP fits the trend...

 

[wv2win]

I vape when and where I want and I consider others when I do so.....And that's somehow wrong?


I vape openly, just not in restaurants and similar environments...And I always vape respectfully...But I will not Vape militantly where ever I damned well please just to prove a point. Sorry but I'm not one of those types of vapers. I vape for myself, not for the education of others. If that's wrong, then so be it but why am I responsible for what other's think of vaping?

You stated in your original post: "I pretty much don't vape anywhere where smoking isn't allowed....." Big difference between that and your new statement: "I vape when and where I want.........."

And to your statement: ".............but why am I responsible for what other's think of vaping?"

Many of us understand the forces aligned against vaping, the previous attempts to ban it and the continued attempts to severely retrict it by lying to the uninformed, that vaping is exactly the same as smoking, just as dangerous and needs to be banned or kept far away from others. CASAA was formed by a volunteer group of ECF members trying to change the perception of vaping as NOT the same as smoking, not harmful to others and fight for our rights to vape openly but respectfully.

If we all took the attitude that it is not our responsibility to provide the correct perception and understanding of vaping, it would be banned in many more locations than it currently is.

 

[JasonK94Z]

My ex's husband made a snide remark that my "water pipes" looked like illegal devices.

I explained to him exactly what they were and how they worked. They are just more advanced e-cigarettes. I told him being a police officer that he would be seeing more people using these and that officers should not un-necessarily hassle people using them. I even offered to give his police station an inservice on them.

Your ex's new husbands remark leads me to believe he's a typical JBT (jack booted thug). What a jerk.


Sent from my iPhone 5 using Tapatalk 2

 

[Kristin0624]

Lol. Taser in one holster, Provari in the other. Don't whip out the wrong one.
And by the way - I noticed several people here work security in the "what do you do for a living" thread...

Security work makes you smoke, some of us finally stopped. Lol now it just makes me chain vape.

Sent from my LG-MS770 using Tapatalk 2

 

[Kristin0624]

Oh yeah, that reminds me. One of my partners on the post I worked this morning was vaping when I came in.

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[vang0gh]

Illinois was the LAST state in the union to hold out for not having ANY sort of concealed carry permit, and even now, they are fighting tooth and nail against the SUPREME COURT's ruling that they HAVE to implement some sort of CC program.

Right now they're trying to figure out how to make it as difficult as possible to own a gun without having that "pesky" Supreme Court overturn whatever they come up with. The politicians here truly have no shame.

 

[StereoDreamer]

I brought all of my mods and had them laid out on a table for any smokers to try out and give them an incentive to make the switch to vaping. My ex's husband made a snide remark that my "water pipes" looked like illegal devices.

Anyone who thinks a mod looks even remotely like a "water pipe" shouldn't be trusted with any more authority than being a nursery-school hall monitor.

It is genuinely frightening that someone this clueless, judgmental and unknowledgeable about ACTUAL illegal paraphenalia would be entrusted to enforce the law...

 

[VapinWolf]

Anyone who thinks a mod looks even remotely like a "water pipe" shouldn't be trusted with any more authority than being a nursery-school hall monitor.

It is genuinely frightening that someone this clueless, judgmental and unknowledgeable about ACTUAL illegal paraphenalia would be entrusted to enforce the law...

What about the internet sites that are promoting it for just that purpose? It doesn't help us at all

Sent from my DROID4 using Tapatalk 4 Beta

 

[StereoDreamer]

What about the internet sites that are promoting it for just that purpose? It doesn't help us at all

Calling a mod a "water pipe" is like calling a Makita cordless drill a Glock because they both have triggers and a box that slides into the handle.

I have NEVER seen one of those "illegal vaping devices" that looked like a mod with a tank. Most of them look a LOT like EVODs--an eGo-sized battery with a slim tank with no windows.

Pax Plume, S8 and Atmos units look NOTHING like most APVs with a tank. Not even to an untrained eye.

Only a brain-dead idiot would make such a comparison...

 

[VapinWolf]

StereoDreamer,
I have no clue myself. Never crossed that line and know very little whats on the other side.
The website that I ran across browsing advertised working in any fillable ecig. Again, I don't know.
The person who bragged his son made and sold it pointed straight at my Zmax/carto tank and said that is what they used it in. Said he was surprised I walked around with it sticking out of my pocket like I do.
I don't know.
I have had several people say they thought that was what I was doing.
A few make the statement the reason they felt I wasn't doing something illegal was because I wasn't trying to hide it. This is one reason why I am so strong against 'stealth' vaping.
What I do know is this. I have had at least three people tell me that they 1-Know someone that uses a setup like mine to 'break the law'
2-Saw someone 'breaking the law' with a setup like mine, and
3-Has a family member who profits selling an illegal product for my device.
If they are all BS, it still isn't good publicity for us. People obviously believe this.

If you are saying 'that' product will not work in my device, GREAT!! That would really help a lawsuit if one of us were unjustly harassed or arrested for 'that' reason

Sent from my DROID4 using Tapatalk 4 Beta

 

[diog]

hi stereo,

the majority of people have no idea what an APV is let alone can tell the difference between models or atomizers. I don't think they are brain dead, its just there are seemingly thousands of products and even newbies to ecigs are incredibly confused for a while.

just about anything can be used for illegal purposes if you try hard enough...even a spork....best to just be perfectly clear about your own personal intent

 

[StereoDreamer]

the majority of people have no idea what an APV is let alone can tell the difference between models or atomizers. I don't think they are brain dead, its just there are seemingly thousands of products and even newbies to ecigs are incredibly confused for a while.

I'm not talking about non-vapers or the general public. I'm talking about a trained LEO--someone who's job it is to enforce the law--who called a mod a "water pipe". If a cop doesn't know the difference, he is either brain-dead or he's using "color of law" to harass vapers.

Both options are unacceptable and intolerable, and need to be remedied with severe disciplinary action on that LEO, and at the very least, a serious and formal threat of legal action against his department if such behavior persists.

 

[Unfettered]

I vape openly all the time--on foot, in my car, whatever.

I live in the People's Republic of Maryland, where police abuse of civil rights is so bad that the City of Baltimore actually has a budget line item every year for Federal Civil Rights lawsuit settlement payouts. Violations of procedure, and of civil rights isn't a "problem" in the urban counties of MD--it's a calculated, intentional, fundamental part of how the system works, and they actually make financial provisions for when they get caught (rather than just telling the cops here to NOT be thugs...)

I've never been harassed by an LEO. Maybe I've been lucky. Then again, maybe it's because I'm over 40 and drive a purple HRR with pro-gun stickers on the back--they probably figure I know my rights and have a good lawyer on speed-dial, and so don't treat me like an "easy mark". I notice most of the people being harassed for vaping while driving are 20-something men and young women--which are the preferred target group for predatory thuggish cops...

If you are not driving erratically, or have defective equipment, the mere presence of an e-cig should not constitute "probably cause" under Terry vs. Ohio. Without clear evidence of a crime, there is no legal, legitimate reason to pull you over.

PVs are common enough these days that their mere presence does NOT even meet the requirements for "reasonable suspicion" let alone "probable cause".

I would send the Chief of police in your jurisdiction a PR package from CASAA, via certified mail, with a letter from a lawyer letting them know you are putting them on notice to update their training and procedures, and future harassment will be considered a knowing violation of your civil rights on their part, and will result in legal action under 42 USC § 1983, 1985, and 1986...

42 USC § 1983 - Civil action for deprivation of rights | Title 42 - The Public Health and Welfare | U.S. Code | LII / Legal Information Institute
42 USC § 1985 - Conspiracy to interfere with civil rights | Title 42 - The Public Health and Welfare | U.S. Code | LII / Legal Information Institute
42 USC § 1986 - Action for neglect to prevent | Title 42 - The Public Health and Welfare | U.S. Code | LII / Legal Information Institute

We need to stop playing nicey-nice with these thuggish LEOs. We need to stop making excuses for their illegal behavior. We need to stop trading our dignity, freedom and the Rule of Law for the false promise of "protection" and "safety". Because when we trade our freedom for safety, we end up getting neither.

Pay a lawyer $50 to draft a letter for you and send it to them with CASAA packet certified mail. If your local police want to act like thugs and bullies, you need to let them know that YOU are not the person they want to pick on in the future. And your action may actually save someone's life--the next person they pull over may be a young woman, or someone they say "looked like they had a gun" when they are holding a box mod, and the end result might be a LOT worse than being late for work...

I think I love you....

 

[Karl_Cro]

They should probably ban cigarette papers.

 

[zapped]

Cafe press.......This issue can be avoided with vaping bumper stickers or window clings. I havent been stopped ONCE in 4 years of vaping on and off.I drive a LOT and I attribute this to the big rear window sticker that advertises my now defunct vaping store.

It says Zap Electronic Cigarettes in 4" tall bright green letter across my back glass.

 

[Absintheur]

When you consider there are atomizers sold to allow you to smoke leaf tobacco and herbs with your PV (there are even a few ECF suppliers selling them) just how is an LEO supposed to know what you are puffing on? I was pulled over by a city LEO when he saw me puffing on my Sin City Mod. There was a bit of misunderstanding but because I remained very calm so did the LEO. I explained what it was, showed him the bottle of juice with the flavor and store name on it, and took a puff and let him smell the vapor. Having a bottle of e-juice with a label goes a long way in explaining what you are puffing on. All was good.

LEOs in today's world have no idea what will happen when they interact with the public, 99% of them are just good people doing a tough job. I somehow doubt most of us go to work everyday knowing there is a chance you will not go home that night. Most of us don't pin a target to our chest every morning before leaving the house. LEOs are risk every time they stop a car, being polite, calm and cooperative isn't to much to ask in my opinion.

 

[heroinesick]

I'm of the opinion that if I get pulled over vaping, that I'm not doing a darned thing wrong, therefore I'm not going to jail for anything. I vape and drive ALL the time. I carry my bottles of juice with me, clearly labeled. I don't blame them for thinking it looks suspicious, but it's not breaking the law, so I'll be darned if I'm going to hide it. I've vaped in front of police officers before at restaurants, never been questioned or asked to put it away. I guess I'm of the opinion, if I don't look guilty, they have nothing to suspect. If they do, not my fault.

 

[EddardinWinter]

Right now they're trying to figure out how to make it as difficult as possible to own a gun without having that "pesky" Supreme Court overturn whatever they come up with. The politicians here truly have no shame.

I took my 17 year old shooting yesterday so he can pick what weapon he wants for his 18th birthday.

The 16 year old is next. If they choose the same weapon (and it looks like they likely will). I will probably go ahead and just get two more for my 13 and 12 year olds for when they come of age.

Back to the on topic. It is best to be polite to the LEOs. My issue is that when I enforce my rights, they often get offended. When they enforce theirs, I am supposed to remain calm and courteous (which I do out of self preservation). Who is supposed to be the professional here?

Anyone see what this sheriff's deputy did? We hear so many bad stories, here is one of the good LEOs. Defending these folks first amendment rights while controlling the scene. In the face of a bureaucrat with a God complex, and telling the little facist, "No, they don't have to provide ID". Knowing the law and applying it fairly.

Bravo, Deputy Sheriff Stan Lenic!

 

[Heavyrocker]

Cops seem outta control is the USA.